Bloomberg Government economic analyst Nela Richardson and legislative analyst Melissa Avstreih analyzed the presidential candidates’ key economic proposals, as well as sequestration’s potential impact on defense, health care, education and community development funds in six swing states: Colorado, Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Nevada and Florida. A graphic that summarizes their six-part study is below.
Melissa Avstreih is a legislative analyst with 
Bloomberg Government. She had been a partner at the Ferguson Group, a consulting firm where she was the chairman of the Transportation Practice Group. Avstreih worked as a staffer for a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She holds a political science degree from West Chester University and a master’s of international commerce and policy from George Mason University.
Nela Richardson is a senior economic analyst with Bloomberg Government. She was a research economist at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She was also a senior economist at Freddie Mac, a researcher at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and an adjunct professor of finance at John Hopkins. Richardson has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland, an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. from Indiana University.